Helena Douglas
Helena Douglas (エレナ・ダグラス, Herena Dagurasu) is a mixed-race French opera singer and a Pi Qua Quan martial artist from the ''Dead or Alive'' series, making her first debut in Dead or Alive 2. She is the currect leader of the Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee, and the illegitimate daughter of Fame Douglas, the former head of the DOATEC, and her mother Maria. She is also the half-sister of Kokoro. Helena enters the Dead or Alive Tournament to find the assassin who killed her mother. Although she was being manipulated by Victor Donovan, she ends up inheriting control of DOATEC after her father’s death. __TOC__ History Helena is the illegitimate daughter of Fame Douglas and his former mistress Maria, a world class soprano opera singer. Seemingly distant from her father and his work, when he was murdered Helena was devastated, but hardly affected. On the other hand, she loved her mother dearly and followed in her footsteps, becoming a famous opera singer in her own right. While performing at the Great Opera House, she was targeted by an unknown assassin using a sniper rifle. Maria, who was present with her, spotted the rifle at the last second and dove in front of her daughter. Maria was killed instantly. The assassin fled, leaving Helena alone in great shock and covered in her mother's blood. Helena set out for vengeance for Maria's death. Dead or Alive 2 While searching for the assassin, she discovered that the murders of her parents, and attempt on her own life are somehow related to the Dead or Alive World Combat Championship. Helena entered the tournament to discover the truth. Although never explained in the series, Helena appears to have learned or known information pertaining to DOATEC, most notably the ill-fated Project Epsilon when she encountered Hayate suffering from amnesia. She confuses the amnesiac Hayate (or "Ein" as he was known as at the time) by talking to him about the Epsilon Project, but he doesn't remember anything about it. In the end they fight and Helena defeats him. She then goes on to face Gen Fu. Gen Fu wondered why Helena joined the tournament, but Helena wouldn't answer and decided to fight him instead. During the tournament, she also encounters Ayane. In this encounter, she accuses Ayane of being her mother's murderer. Ayane neither confirms nor denies having killed Maria and teases her, after which a fight breaks out between the two. Helena lost to Ayane and was knocked out of the tournament. Helena was not brought down by the defeat and still wanted to avenge her mother's death. Dead or Alive 3 After the second tournament, Helena has captured by Donovan and imprisoned. Although Helena, the reluctant heiress of DOATEC, states that she doesn't have any connection with the organization, Donovan tells her that the only way to obtain her freedom and know the truth behind DOATEC is to win the third tournament. In the meantime, Donovan assigns Christie to keep an eye on Helena by acting as a servant to her and, should the need arise, kill her if she discovers too much. As the tournament goes, Helena soon confronts Christie, where the latter admits that she is an assassin sent to kill her. Helena defeated her and was able to be set free. After the tournament, she goes on a little, well-deserved vacation where she is happy that she's free. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Just like the other girls, Helena came to Zack Island upon hearing from Zack that the fourth tournament would be held there, but it turns out to be a hoax. She becomes trapped on the island for a two week-long vacation. Dead or Alive 4 Helena, as the daughter of former chairman Fame Douglas, takes control of DOATEC. She joins the fourth tournament with the other fighters. At one point, she invites the assassin Bayman to the DOATEC Tritower, wanting to hire him to take out Donovan, but he declines. After her confrontation with Bayman she meets Kokoro, in which she learns that Kokoro is her biological half-sister and that maybe their blood brought them together. Afterwards, the Tritower comes under attack by the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan. During the attack, Helena comes across La Mariposa, who admits she tricked Hayate into stoping Donovan. She was unfornately confronted by Kasumi who tells her to stop the fight between DOATEC and the Mugen Tenshin. Helena refuses and tells her that her clone, ALPHA-152, will soon be awaking causing havoc in the world. She attempts to kill Kasumi, only to be stopped by Ryu Hayabusa and was defeated by Kasumi. After her defeat, Helena is then confronted by Christie, who reveals that she killed her mother. They both survive, and while Christie escapes, Helena decides to go down together with DOATEC and subsequently sets the Tritower complex on self-destruct. Plagued by flashbacks of her deceased mother, she moves up to the helipad between the three towers that make up the complex, willing giving up her life and be consumed by the flames of the burning buildings. Suddenly, Zack comes flying in with a chopper and saves her before the building falls to dust. Although Helena did win the fourth tournament, she gives up the title to Zack. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 Helena is now rising star in the opera world. Remembering the debt that Zack had saved her life previously, Helena goes to New Zack Island hoping that she and Zack can form an agreement to rebuild DOATEC after it was destroyed by the ninjas. Endings Character Appearance Overall, Helena has a refined, elegent, even upper-class appearance. She is of average height, and has a rosy-colored skin. Her face is heart-shaped face, she has sharp facial features, and aqua-green eyes. Her hair is blonde, and reaches down past her waist, styled with segmented bangs that frame her face, and is tied into a low ponytail with a decrative bow; the bow changes color to match her outfits. She tends to wear rich, royal colors, such as blues, reds, white, black, and gold. Her outfits normally consist of dresses and suits with lots of detail, knee-high boots, ruffles, bows, and cord ties. Personality Helena is, outwardly, haughty and unconcerned with other people. Above all else, she is obsessed with revenge against her mother's killer. She is very patient with her search, yet totally unrelenting. Willing to go through any means to achieve this end. However this quest seems to drive her to an emotional brink. However Helena is not intentionally cruel and has the ability to be kind. These are shown by her friendships with Kasumi, Lei Fang and Gen Fu. She also seems to forgive Christie after it is discovered that she was her mother’s killer, telling her to flee the building. Helena is also shown to be one of the most graceful and aristocratic characters in the game, shown by her fighting. It's also hinted in her figther quotes that Helena is religious, most likely Christian. Etymology Helena's first name - said with the Dutch pronouncion "hay-LAY-nah" rather then the more common way "he-LE-nah" - is a latinate form of "Helen", a English form of the Greek ‘Ελενη (Helene), which in turn is probably from Greek ‘ελενη (helene) meaning "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to σεληνη (selene) meaning "moon". In Greek mythology, was the daughter of and , whose kidnapping by was the cause of the . This could link to Helena's life: her father Fame could "Zeus", as both are powerful figures, and the kidnapping by Paris could relate to Donavan's mistreatment of Helena, which later on led onto the war and the end of DOATEC. Her surname "Douglas" is a anglicized form of the Scottish surname Dubhghlas, which meant "dark river", from the Gaelic dubh meaning "dark" and glais menaing "water, river". Douglas was originally a river name, which then became a Scottish clan name belonging to a powerful line of Scottish earls. This could mean that Helena is of English/Scottish descent on her father's side. Relationships Christie Christie was the assassin responsible for the death of Maria, Helena’s mother. In Dead or Alive 3, Christie was hired by Donovan to assassinate Helena by acting as her servant. However, the plan failed and Helena had her freedom. Christie later revealed to Helena that she was the true assassin. Although Christie was the assassin who killed Helena's mother, Helena seems to have a strong bond with Christie. Gen Fu They were partners in Dead or Alive 2 and worked together. Gen Fu asked Helena why she joined the second tournament and instead of replying to the question, Helena said it was none of his business. However, Helena seems to like Gen Fu; even offering to pay for his granddaughter, Mei Lin's operation. Kokoro The daughter of Fame Douglas and Miyako, Kokoro is Helena’s biological half-sister. Miyako had left for Japan and raised Kokoro there, whereas Helena was raised in France. As such, Kokoro doesn't know about her sister, but Helena seems to recognize Kokoro when they finally meet during the fourth tournament, wondering if their blood had drawn them together. Gameplay Dead or Alive Helena's fighting style, Pi Qua Quan, is flowing and smooth; many of her attacks are graceful and move in a windmill-like formation. This is accompanied by the sheer speed of her attacks thus advantageous, and allocates dominance in a match when facing slower opponents, such as Bayman, Leon, Tina Armstrong, Bass Armstrong and La Mariposa. Her key stance is her Bokuho stance, from which she can execute a number of moves, and her mix-up game, execution time-frame, and air juggles are excellent due to her combo variety. Her varying attack ranges make up for her lack of brute power; it can often prove difficult to counter against her at times because of this aspect. However, she must be used in a combo-based fashion to execute sufficient damage, as her launchers and single strikes lack a high damage ratio. While her throws lack strength, they are some of the most quickly executed in the game, and can even be performed while in the aforementioned Bokuho stance. Musical Themes *''Blazed Up Melpomene'' - Dead or Alive 2 and Dead or Alive 4 *''Blood Tie'' - Dead or Alive 3 *''Solitary Desperation'' - Dead or Alive 4 *''Amazing'' - Dead or Alive 4 Ending Theme. Other Appearances Dead or Alive Ultimate Helena also appears in the remake of Dead or Alive 2 included with the compilation collection, Dead or Alive Ultimate. In Ultimate, she has a total of thirteen costumes, in which tweleve need to be unlocked by replaying her Story Mode - costumes 3 through 7 can be unlocked on easy mode, 8 through 11 on normal mode, and 12 and 13 on hard mode. DOA: Dead or Alive Helena makes an appearance in the movie DOA: Dead or Alive, played by Sarah Carter. However her personality and overall character seems to be a mix with that of Hitomi, as she is now a happy, bubbly twenty-one year old with Helena’s character history but with Hitomi’s personality traits. Throughout the movie she is treated as a necessary annoyance by Donovan, who has gained control of DOATEC after the "death" of Fame Douglas, and is generally regarded as a rookie by the other fighters. Despite this she manages to hold her own against some of the more experienced fighters, forcing even Donovan to admit that he may have underestimated her. Dead or Alive Paradise Helena is also a playable character in the Dead or Alive Xtreme spin-off, Dead or Alive Paradise. Like other Xtreme titles before it, the game features the girls of Dead or Alive enjoying a two-week vacation on a tropical island, playing volleyball and exchanging gifts with one another. Gallery Outfit Catalogues *Helena/Outfit Catalogues *Helena/DOAX Swimsuits *Helena/DOAX2 Swimsuits *Helena/Paradise Swimsuits Trivia *As shown in the ''Dead or Alive 3 ending, Helena owns a black Labrador Retriever. In Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, she can buy a dog collar for it. *Also shown in her Dead or Alive 3 ending, Helena loves dolphins. *In Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, it is revealed that Helena wears reading glasses. *Helena was the first racially-mixed character in the series. *Helena appears in the fan-made CG movie series Dead Fantasy. She makes her debut at the end of the third episode, activating an army of Kasumi Alpha clones that went out to kill Kasumi and Yuna of Final Fantasy X. She also appears in the fifth episode, taking Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII away in a helicopter. She has yet to fight, and her actions and connections with Hitomi and Hayate in the movies are highly suspicious. *Pi Qua Quan is the sister art of Ba Ji Quan, which is Kokoro's fighting style. *Helena seems to know that Kokoro's mother, Miyako, was one of Fame Douglas' mistresses. This could be explained by the fact that she took over DOATEC, which may have given her access to secret files. *Helena's main tag partners are Gen Fu in Dead or Alive 2 and Christie in Dead or Alive 3. **She also has tag moves with Kasumi, Lei Fang and Ryu. *IGN featured Helena in their "Videogame Babe of the Day" series in 2006. 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